Saturday, February 27, 2010

Food, glorious food

The other day I came across this online article. Since I thought it was a pretty good one, I’m sharing it on here.

I’ll admit it. I’ve made many of these mistakes. Some I still do on a consistent basis (such as #9 – being too casual about measuring ingredients). Others are mistakes I didn’t know I was making (#17 – letting meat rest before serving). Thankfully, there are several that I have learned over the years – and have actually followed.

Some might say that I’ve gotten picky about my food. I like to think it is more that I now have a better understanding of the quality of ingredients. While there are some items that I will buy off brand or generic, there are many that I refuse to go cheap. Over the past few years the items in my freezer and pantry have changed dramatically. Yes, you will still find ice cream and chocolate. But, you will find almost no frozen meals, unless they are ones that I made from scratch. You will also be hard-pressed to find a can of vegetables or soup. My list of foods that I’ll buy in a can keeps dwindling.

These changes have actually changed my tastes. Recently I bought a box of store brand sugar coated puffed wheat cereal (similar to Super Golden Crisp). This once was my favorite kids’ cereal. Yet, when I went to eat a bowl of the cereal, the mass quantities of sugar (and high fructose corn syrup) was very irritating to my mouth and tongue. Yikes! Now the only cereals I buy are Kashi brands (and the like)…and rice krispy types for those yummy rice krispy treats.

There are substitutions I no longer make. I bake with unsalted butter, never margarine. I use canola or olive oil instead of vegetable oil. Often I make my own salad dressings instead of buying bottled Italian or honey mustard dressings. It’s easy and much more delicious. I rarely buy pre-frozen meat anymore, opting to buy just what I need fresh from the meat counter (and letting it set at room temperature for a bit before I cook it).

These changes make for meals that are better tasting and maybe even a bit healthier, too.